Tag: Sanford Bishop

Much like money for CBC scholarships, Sanford Bishop’s lead has dried up

Sanford, Sanford, Sanford. It’s okay. Don’t cry.

Democratic Rep. Sanford Bishop’s once-safe hold on his southwest Georgia district has slipped away less than a month before Election Day, and the contest is now a statistical tie, according to a new survey from the campaign of state Rep. Mike Keown (R).

Bishop led Keown 47 percent to 46 percent with 7 percent undecided. The 1-point difference was well within the survey’s 4.9-point margin of error. Keown’s poll, which was conducted by the GOP firm Public Opinion Strategies, was in the field Sept. 27 and 28 and surveyed 400 likely 2nd district voters.

The new poll came four weeks after another POS survey showed Bishop ahead 50 percent to 44 percent.

Keown, Bishop debate in SW Georgia

Last evening, Mike Keown and Sanford Bishop hunkered down for a debate. Bishop’s main point is that he’s a political insider.

Bishop, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee, said he’s helped secure money locally for agriculture research and for new roads and sewers that allow local chicken processing plants to operate in the district. He said he helped shield local military bases from closure.

“I’m in a position not only to have a seat at the table, but to help slice that pie into portions worthy of the needs of the people of the 2nd Congressional District,” Bishop said.

Keown’s main point, especially during his closing remarks, was decidedly different, noting that Bishop votes with Nancy Pelosi 97.7% of the time…among other things:

Ray McKinney Now On The Radar Screen; Democrats In Congress Adopt Defensive Strategy

A few items to note regarding Georgia’s role in the dynamic Congressional races:

1) Sarah Palin has added Ray McKinney to her list of Congressional endorsements, sending a possible signal that John Barrow’s seat may be within reach, and/or that additional resources from outside the district may give McKinney an additional push.

2)  The New York Times  (subscription required) indicates that the  DNC is now moving money to races where they still have a chance, and away from those they now feel are out of reach.   They mention Georgia as a state that will be receiving additional help, presumably to fortify the  campaign coffers of Sanford Bishop and Jim Marshall.

3)  Last week when listening to  The Regular Guys on Rock 100.5 in Atlanta, they mentioned an internal poll that Liz Carter had reported to them on her race for the 4th CD.  I’m going to assume they had the numbers wrong, because they said she had 53% of the vote, with 30% undecided.  Or perhaps I heard it wrong.  Regardless, Liz Carter continues to profess that she will win, and surprise “everyone at Peach Pundit” as she told a table of folks we had dinner with last week.   I’ll admit, I would be surprised.

But I did promise Mrs. Carter that I would write about the fact that Hank Johnson will not debate her, and as such, I’m including her latest press release below the jump. Read more

The Republican Ethics Problem In GA-2

I didn’t read much on Facebook during my fishing trip, but one of the few times I did glance at the status updates, I was sincerely amused by the postings of one of my friends who is a very vocal Nathan Deal supporter.   She was aghast that a Congressman had used the power of his Congressional office for his family’s financial gain.   She didn’t appear to have any appreciation/acknowledgement of the irony of the situation.

Sanford Bishop, the Democrat representing Georgia’s 2nd District, is under a bit of fire for steering scholarships from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation to various relatives.   It’s a bit unseemly, and does appear that he used his position to make sure his family was taken care of during this program.  

Yet, we have a Republican candidate for Governor who also is accused of using the power of his office to protect a no-bid “arrangement” of which the profits seem to have been diverted to family members who later freed them back in to the wild outdoors.

Deal’s supporters in the primary, joined by others now in the general, have taken great pains to excuse this behavior.   A small sampling of those who wish to stick their head in the sand and pretend this didn’t happen have used various excuses including:

1)      Nobody’s perfect. Read more

National Journal Online: Marshall, Bishop Vulnerable

According to thelatest on their website:

Marshall:

 Marshall likely holds the lead, but with the American Future Fund recently dumping $335K into this rather cheap media market, that lead may be in jeopardy.

Bishop:

The racial breakdown of this CD gives Bishop the advantage, but as he faces criticism for giving scholarships to family members (and other recent missteps), the door opens for state Rep. Mike Keown (R).

Just looked up hypocrisy in the dictionary and was greeted by Sanford Bishop’s photo

Earlier this week, man of the people Sanford Bishop (D-Scholarships for Friends, Family) gave his definition of ‘politics’ to the Kiwanis Club of Dougherty County:

“Politics is all about who gets what, when and how[.]”

How…inspiring. Too bad in his definition he didn’t include anything about protecting freedom and liberty and ensuring that government is kept as minimalist as possible so that Americans can live their life without fear of a burdensome, intrusive government. Oh, well. But then he said this about his opponent, Mike Keown:

“My opponent has been the mayor of a town of 550 people, been on a county school board and has served two terms in the state Legislature. He does not have the tools or the background to do this job. His record doesn’t compare to person who has a strong record of delivering to the district.”

Right, that must be why Bishop was co-chair of Obama For Georgia in 2008…because of all of the experience Obama had under his belt to be elected POTUS.

Anyway, evidently Bishop feels that being Mayor of Coolidge really isn’t a real job. And helping manage a school district responsible for education of the young…posh, that isn’t as important as being a Congressman in Washington, you simpletons! Bishop has much more important things to do…like hand out more scholarships to his friends and employees. Yes, there are seven more under the microscope:

• Jonathan Alston – a former employee of Bishop’s office who has presumably never lived in or attended college in Bishop’s district – in clear violation of scholarship rules
• Tiffany N. Tisdale – the niece of Bishop’s Field Rep Elaine Gillespie
• Robin Foster – the niece of Bishop’s $8,000 donor, Calvin Smyre
• Bonica T. Smith – the daughter of one of Bishop’s wife’s employees
• Lemeka S. Jacobs – the daughter of one of Bishop’s wife’s employees
• Aubrey Smith – the nephew of one of Bishop’s wife’s employees
• Kelli J. Blair – the daughter of one of Bishop’s wife’s employees

It’s a sheer coincidence the most worthy of these scholarships just happened to have a connection to him, I’m sure.

Sanford Bishop: it’s all about the Benjamins, baby!
Mike Keown: it’s all about responsibility.

Sanford Bishop upset with Mike Keown for Sanford Bishop’s securing of scholarship money for Sanford Bishop’s family

You say classy, Sanford. You are truly a man of the people.

Reached by phone, Bishop declined to discuss the scholarship controversy. In a statement issued late Friday, his campaign manager said the congressman followed the guidelines about scholarships in place at the time, but would nonetheless give back to the foundation an amount equal to the scholarships his family members got. He also accused Bishop’s Republican challenger, Mike Keown, of starting a smear campaign by spreading news of the scholarship controversy.

“This is about nothing more than Mike Keown scoring cheap political points by attacking Rep. Bishop and his family,” campaign spokesman Tim Turner said in a statement. “To Mike Keown, apparently nothing is off-limits, even attacking someone’s family.”

Note that the minute these scholarships come to light, even though he professes to have done nothing wrong, Bishop refunds the money. Maybe the appearance of how it all looks really wasn’t that swell, after all, in 2010 or 2003.

Interestingly, as the AJC notes, this isn’t the first time Bishop has been hit by allegations of nepotism.

Read more

John Barrow FINALLY grows a spine and makes it official: he is a firm NO on ObamaCare

Well, that only took 14 months…

I am strongly in favor of reforming the health care system, but I don’t think this bill is going to do it, and therefore I can’t support it. It puts too much of the burden of paying for it on working folks who are already being overcharged, and that’s not fair. It threatens to overwhelm Medicaid in Georgia, and that’s not right. And it barely touches the insurance companies, and that’s not smart. We can do better and I’m ready to start.

Glad to see he finally got the message.

[UPDATE] Sanford Bishop will be looking for a new job come January as he is now voting YES on ObamaCare.